Electrical shocking devices are well known in the art, and include “stun guns” and “tasers.” A stun gun is capable of providing an extremely high voltage across two electrically conductive terminals, and designed to shock and neutralize an enemy when the stun gun is activated while the terminals are in contact with the enemy's body. A problem with stun guns is that they are typically small handheld devices in which the terminals are merely a few inches from the user's hand, necessitating that the user is very close to the enemy before the stun gun can be used against the enemy. Tasers are devices that, in at least one embodiment, shoot two electrically conductive dart-like projectiles at an enemy. Because the high voltage generator is typically located in the portion of the taser maintained by the user, a taser includes long wires running the distance from the handheld portion to the electrically conductive dart-like projectiles. Once the taser has been successfully fired at an enemy and both darts are lodged in the enemy's skin, the handheld portion generates an extremely high voltage that is delivered to the darts (and, hence, the enemy) via the long wires. While tasers solve one problem with stun guns—namely, the need for close proximity to an enemy—they are accompanied by several disadvantages. First, they are effectively single-use devices such that, if the user fails to lodge both darts into the enemy's skin, the taser must be reloaded before it may be used again. Second, they are good against only one enemy, until the taser is reloaded for another enemy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,534 to Ward discloses an electric shock safety device that has an extending or telescoping probe which provides a means for the safe, efficient, rapid and accurate deployment of the device. Ward discloses that the device is especially suited for protection for joggers and bicyclists from dogs or other animals. The probe has three sections 14′, 14″, and 14′″, and the device may extend to three feet. There are several problems with the device of Ward. First, to obtain a desired extended length, such as three feet, either each section must be prohibitively long (e.g., one foot each, for three segments), or the device must include prohibitively many shorter concentric sections, which adds weight, complexity, and risk of device failure. Second, even if the sections are made of a relatively lightweight material, such as a hard plastic, the device may still be too heavy to comfortably carry around—particularly by joggers, as suggested by Ward.